John does not mention the ill-treatment of Jesus by the soldiers, nor any Simon of Cyrene. According to him, Jesus Himself carried His cross (John XIX:17).[48]
The title on the cross, written in Greek, Latin and Hebrew, was "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."[49] The chief priests objected to Pilate about this (probably considering it an insult to their nation), but Pilate refused to change it (John XIX:19-22).
John says that Jesus' mother, His aunt, Mary Magdalene and the disciple "whom He loved," stood by the cross. Jesus recommends His mother to this disciple's care, and "from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home" (John XIX:25-27).[50]
The vinegar was then given Jesus to drink, and, at the request of the Jews, the soldiers broke the legs of the two who were crucified with Jesus, but "they brake not His legs," because He was dead already. One of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, "came there out blood and water" (John XIX:28-37).[51]
John does not mention any supernatural occurrences at the time of Jesus' death, Joseph of Arimathæa obtains Jesus' body "secretly" from Pilate, and, with the aid of Nicodemus, wound the body in linen with spices—"A mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight"—"as the manner of the Jews is to bury" (John XIX:38-40). "Now, in the place where He was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand" (John XIX:41, 42). No mention is made of the attendance of the women, or of any guard being placed about the sepulchre.
THE RESURRECTION
About dawn on Sunday morning, the two Marys came to the sepulchre (Matt. XXVIII:1). The soldiers set to watch the tomb are there also (Matt. XXVIII:4). There is a "great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came, and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it" (Matt. XXVIII:2). "His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow" (Matt. XXVIII:3). The angel tells the women that Jesus is risen, and bids them go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead; "and, behold, He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him" (Matt. XXVIII:6, 7). As the women were on their way to tell this to the disciples, "Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held Him by the feet, and worshipped Him" (Matt. XXVIII:9). Jesus says to them to be not afraid, and to tell His brethren that He will meet them in Galilee (Matt. XXVIII:10). Some of the watch go into the city and tell the chief priests what has happened (Matt. XXVIII:11). The chief priests give the soldiers "large money" to say, "His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we slept" (Matt. XXVIII:12, 13). The soldiers did as they were taught, and "this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day" (Matt. XXVIII:15). "Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him, but some doubted" (Matt. XXVIII:16, 17). Jesus then tells them to teach and baptize "all nations" (Matt. XXVIII:10).[52]
According to Mark, the two Marys and Salome come to the tomb early Sunday morning "at the rising of the sun" (Mark XVI:1). There was no watch there, and the stone was rolled away from the door of the sepulchre (Mark XVI:2, 3). They go into the sepulchre and find there a "young man, sitting on the right side, clothed in a long, white garment" (Mark XVI:5). The young man says to them that Jesus is risen, and that they should go and tell the disciples and Peter: "He goeth before you into Galilee," where they should see Him (Mark XVI:6, 7). The women fled quickly from the tomb, "neither said they anything to any man; for they were afraid" (Mark XVI:8). Then, at some time and place not specified, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene (Mark XVI:9). She tells of this appearance to "them that had been with Him, as they mourned and wept," but they believeth not (Mark XVI:10, 11). "After that He appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. And they went and told it unto the residue: Neither believed they then" (Mark XVI:12, 13). Afterward, at a time and place not specified, Jesus appears to the eleven "as they sat at meat," and upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart in not believing the accounts of His previous appearances to Mary and the two disciples (Mark. XVI:14). He then delivers a short exhortation to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, telling of the signs that should follow belief, and the punishment that should follow unbelief (Mark XVI:15, 18). "So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God" (Mark XVI:19).[53]
Luke relates that the two Marys, Joanna and "other women" went to the tomb on Sunday, "very early in the morning" (Luke XXIV:1, 10). There is no watch and the stone is rolled away (Luke XXIV:2). They enter the sepulchre, find the body of Jesus gone, and, as they stand there "much perplexed," "behold, two men stood by them in shining garments" (Luke XXIV:3, 4). They were afraid, but the two men tell them that Jesus is risen, as He had predicted, and as they now remember (Luke XXIV:5, 6, 7, 8). The women then return and tell "all these things unto the eleven and to all the rest," but "their words seem to them as idle tales, and they believed them not" (Luke XXIV:9, 11). Peter then goes to the sepulchre, finds the linen clothes "laid by themselves," but apparently sees nothing of the two men (Luke XXIV:12).
On the same day Cleopas[54] and another disciple go to a village called Emmaus, about three score furlongs from Jerusalem (Luke XXIV:13, 18).